What does Kindergarten look like for you?

[cdrumm4448]

My daughter's school is considering all-day Kindergarten. That's not really for us, so I thought I would get an idea of what typical WTM kindergarten consists of. I need to change my sig as Frontline Phonics isn't working for dd, and neither is 100 EZ Lessons. I just ordered HWT K and HOD for her. I have Saxon 1 (which I'm not sure she's ready for-it was a left-over) and IXL computer-based math also. Any replies will be appreciated.

[Kathleen in VA]

I'm probably the odd man out here, but kindergarten for us was lots of reading aloud and playing and learning the letter sounds (just used some large flashcards I bought at a library book sale) and playing and reading aloud and learning to have orderly habits (bedroom neatness, personal hygiene) and playing and playdough and puzzles and duplos and reading aloud. I was very relaxed. If a story led to an activity, we pursued that - such as making butter when reading Little House in the Big Woods. Lots of cuddling on the couch with fun books and running around outside. I saved formal reading and math for first grade.

[nono]

Here's what's happening for my kindergartener:

 

M-F, we read for an hour in the morning, along with my 2 yr old. Then it is playtime for the remainder of the morning.

 

Th, we go to the library reading "hour." It ends up being 1 1/2 hrs., and includes a craft. Some other homeschoolers attend.

 

T, once a month, my 5 yr old goes to homeschool art class at a local art museum for 2 hrs.

 

M-W-F, while my 2 yr old naps, we cover math, phonics, diction, Chinese, French, religion & penmanship in about 2-3 hrs. I know it sounds like a lot, but other than the phonics, my daughter asks for even more. Lest I give you the impression that it's very rigorous around here, I should confess it's also part comedy school. We frequently end up dealing with any tension that develops with our respective zingers that leave us literally: :lol:.

 

Su, my children go to Church School for 1.5 hrs. It's an all-age program, which appeals to me. The actual teaching is rather superficial, which is why I also teach religion.

[ChristusG]

My 5 year old DD actually likes doing workbooks and stuff like that. So on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday we do school work. It usually takes us about 1.5 hours per day. We do phonics (Explode the Code), Science (her fave subject by far, lots of hands on stuff), Math (just switched from the Critical Thinking Company to Horizons), Bible (stuff that I put together myself), AWANA memory verse for church, and we practice speech (she attends speech therapy twice a week so we go over that).

 

I also just purchased an art program since she's quite the little artist (Artistic Pursuits) so we will begin doing that probably once a week. And possibly some sign language as well since she is really interested in that.

 

On Wednesdays she attends a 4 hour long homeschool group where she goes to different classes with other kids her age. She loves it!

[SilverMoon]

At our house kindy is:

-phonics instruction, using Phonics Pathways primarily (starfall.com, BOB books, Leapfrog videos, etc. as supplements)

-learning to write the letters, and write their name

-counting with blocks, toes, abacus, etc.

-lots and lots of reading on all sorts of topics, including plentiful trips to the library

 

A big chunky workbook from Costco is a great addition for workbook lovers, and spares the printer ink nicely.

 

That's it. Really. :) My older three kids who have done kindy this way were all more than adequately prepared for a WTM-ish first grade. The precocious four year old pokes into her siblings' lessons and will be above a first grade level by the time she's old enough for it. I'm batting 4:4. (With a toddler who hasn't made it up to the plate yet.)

[olan719]

Kindergarten for us is focusing on the 3 "R"s. We read aloud as well (although I confess I don't enjoy reading aloud), and they spend lots of time playing.

 

On average, we spend about 1-2 hours a day four days a week with "formal" learning. For phonics, we are using OPGTTR and ETC. We will start SWR next year, but this year we are learning the 70 phonograms. For math, we are using Singapore EB and a gentle start into Miquon. For writing, we are just doing lots of copywork and practice.

 

Other than that, we are not stressing too much about K. My goal this year is beginning reading, learning to write, and a little knowledge of basic math - counting, simple add/sub. concepts, etc. I think this will give us a good start for 1st grade.

[BikeBookBread]

At our house kindy is:

-phonics instruction, using Phonics Pathways primarily (starfall.com, BOB books, Leapfrog videos, etc. as supplements)

-learning to write the letters, and write their name

-counting with blocks, toes, abacus, etc.

-lots and lots of reading on all sorts of topics, including plentiful trips to the library

 

A big chunky workbook from Costco is a great addition for workbook lovers, and spares the printer ink nicely.

 

That's it. Really. :) My older three kids who have done kindy this way were all more than adequately prepared for a WTM-ish first grade. The precocious four year old pokes into her siblings' lessons and will be above a first grade level by the time she's old enough for it. I'm batting 4:4. (With a toddler who hasn't made it up to the plate yet.)

 

Our Kinder is a clone to this. While it started out with a ton of structure it has evolved into a more "open" process if that makes sense. We formally sit down and do our reading lesson (Phonics Pathways ROCKS) and writing, but otherwise, we grab a book here, do an art project there, do lots of building with Legos and blocks, pretend play with dollies, etc. We do math with Miquon orange, not as often as we should, but the concepts are sinking in. It's amazing the number and math concepts they can learn from working on Lego building kits with Mom and Dad.

 

I know that our Kinder method is working too, as PDG recently started to understanding DH and I while we were talking in "Spellingese" to each other about a surprise. WOO HOO!

 

The workbook suggestion mentioned above is really good, too. We do a lot of Kumon books.

 

We truly are ascribing to the "Kinder as Prep for 1st Grade" philosophy. They'll have enough structure from 1st grade on...I want to let them have a bit more freedom while they can.

 

ETA: The real kicker that pushed us into HS was that the school where PDG attended Pre-K only offered offered full-day, five-day kindergarten.

Edited November 7, 2009 by BikeBookBread

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

We were doing 100 EZ Lessons, but are paused at lesson 50. Everyday I read from: a science or history book from the library, Egermeier's Bible Story Book, and a fiction read aloud. We do some kind of phonics practice daily. Right now we are practicing speed with sight words, and working on Explode the Code 1. I do some kind of math activity- right now filling out a hundred chart and some kind of handwriting activity- practicing letters or his name or simple words.

 

That's about it. Takes about an hour and a half.

[Imprimis]

My 5 year old DD actually likes doing workbooks and stuff like that.

 

!

 

My dd, also, enjoys workbooks. Her favorites are Brain Quest (which has a bit of everything in it from phonics to science), The Complete Book of Phonics, Spelling Workout A, and A Reason for Handwriting.

 

We also do Rocket Phonics, Horizons Math, and lots of read alouds, including many Five in A Row books.

 

She takes a homeschool art class every Tuesday, and piano lessons on Wednesday.

 

She really loves doing nature walks with big brother and sister, but, I've been shelving that lately, so I need to get back to that.

[Quiver0f10]

For K we do this daily:

 

1 lesson of math

1 reading/phonics lesson

1 page of penmanship or copywork

 

Our K'rs sit in as we read aloud for science, history and regular read alouds. If they can answer questions that's fine but I don't require anything more than listening. We do crafts, play doh, play etc.

[vkay]

For K, we always just focus on three main things:

 

Math - Saxon 1

Reading - Phonics Pathways + Hooked on Phonics

Writing - just K size paper and practice one letter at a time

 

That's it. After the basics just have FUN!! Read, go places, play, art, painting, zoo....all of the good stuff. :D

[joannqn]

My next two will do Spectrum Phonics and MUS Alpha along with being folded in with other subjects.

[Country Mouse]

For K with my ds, we spend at most a couple of hours over the course of the day doing "formal" work. I used Saxon Math K which uses lots of manipulatives, I used HWT (with the wooden pieces and small slate board) for letter formation, for science we did fun experiments from Mudpies to Magnets, we read poetry and picture books, played with playdough, kept nature journals, my ds really enjoyed Study Dog so I let him play that frequently. I also tried to integrate a lot of fine motor and sensory experiences into our day because ds has always struggled with those. We'd play with wikki stix, moon sand, silly putty, do animal walks, climb through tunnels, do mazes, ball tossing, drawing with a wiggle writer, etc. We'd also take a lot of field trips to local parks, zoos, museums, children's theatre and wildlife sactuaries.